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E    FOUNDATION    FOR  THE 
NEW  PSYCHOLOGY 


:planation  of  the  existing  class  conflict 

ETWEEN  capital  AND  LABOR  AND  METHOD 
OF  ELIMINATING  IT. 


BY 


BEN  MEYERSON 


10  Cents:        SO  for  $3.25;        100  for  $6.00,  postpaid 


8} 


Copyright  1915  by 

BEN  MEYERSON 

508>^    East    Third    Street 
Lot  Angeles,  Cal. 


isnmsmiMkw^iatfs^viirwnEH 


"We  are  in  need  of  a  truer  standard  of  values.  So  long 
as  we  measure  everything  in  terms  of  economic  possession  we 
shall  have  conflict;  such  possession  implies  physical  control 
and  this  always  invites  physical  conflict.  Instead  of  measur- 
ing values  in  terms  of  physical  possession,  we  must  measure 
them  in  terms  of  service  to  life." 

"This  recognition  of  the  truer  standard  of  value  purifies 
our  actions  and  takes  the  self-indulgent  element  out  of  them." 

— Rev.  E.  Stanton  Hodgin. 


324133 


SOCIALIST  LOGIC 

"However  much  the  state  of  things  may  have  al- 
tered during  the  last  twenty-five  years  (or  a  century 
for  that  matter),  the  general  principles  laid  down  in 
this  Manifesto  are,  on  the  whole,  as  correct  today  as 
ever.  Here  and  there  some  detail  might  be  improved. 
The  practical  application  of  the  principles  will  depend, 
as  the  manifesto  itself  states,  everywhere  and  at  all 
times,  on  the  historical  conditions  for  the  time  being 
existing." 

"That  proposition  is :  that  in  every  historical  epoch, 
the  prevailing  mode  of  economic  production  and  ex- 
change, and  the  social  organization  necessarily  fol- 
lowing from  it,  form  the  basis  upon  which  is  built  up, 
and  from  which  alone  can  be  explained,  the  poHtical 
and  intellectual  history  of  that  epoch;  that  conse- 
quently the  whole  history  of  mankind  (since  the  dis- 
solution of  primitive  tribal  society,  holding  land  in 
common  ownership)  has  been  a  history  of  class  strug- 
gles, contest  between  exploiting  and  exploited,  ruling 
and  oppressed  classes ;  that  the  history  of  these  class 
struggles  forms  a  series  of  evolution  in  which,  now-a 
days,  a  stage  has  been  reached  where  the  exploited 
and  oppressed  class — the  proletariat — cannot  attain  its 
emancipation  from  the  sway  of  the  exploiting  and  rul- 
ing class — the  bourgeoisie  (property  owing  class) — 
without,  at  the  same  time,  and  once  and  for  all,  eman- 
cipating society  at  large  from  all  exploitation,  oppres- 
sion, class-distinctions  and  class-struggles." 

— Communist  Manifesto. 


PREAMBLE 

Special  reference  must  be  made  particularly  to  the 
class-conscious  workers  for  the  benefit  of  the  organi- 
zation as  well  as  for  the  benefit  of  the  uninformed.  It 
must  become  the  duty  of  every  class-conscious  man 
and  member  of  the  organization  to  adopt  means  to 
conduct  the  educational  campaign  in  a  strictly  uniform 
style.  Meetings  ought  to  be  held  under  the  banner  of 
the  organization  so  as  to  let  the  public  know  who  we 
are.  Speakers  shall  be  under  the  control  of  the  local 
organization  or  under  a  board  consisting  of  men  that 
are  familiar  with  the  fundamentals  of  the  social  prob- 
lem in  order  to  hold  the  speakers  strictly  to  the  subject 
of  industrial  unionism  so  that  the  public  shall  know 
what  we  want.  In  other  words,  we  must  do  all  to  elim- 
inate the  mob  spirit  fostered  by  labor  and  political 
fakers.  It  is  familiar  to  every  class-conscious  man 
that  the  constant  assertions  of  these  fakers  and  free- 
lancers, "that  the  working  class  today  are  ready  to 
accept  almost  any  remedy  to  make  good."  But  we 
know  any  remedy  is  no  remedy,  but  is  rather  danger- 
ous. There  is  but  one  remedy  and  that  is  as  outlined, 
Industrial  Form  of  Organization,  but  the  Education  of 
Industrial  Unionism  is  prior  to  organization. 

Our  method  of  education  must  be  of  a  quality  that 
people  shall  understand  that  as  long  as  the  masses  are 
held  under  the  influence  of  professional  politicians  and 
mercenary  intellectuals  so  long  will  these  miserable 
conditions  continue  to  be  the  order  of  the  day.  The 
people  must  understand  that  to  carry  out  things  or 
measures  on  a  national  scale  there  must  be  first  a  unit 
of  mind  in  purpose  as  well  as  in  method  to  accomplish 


4  PREAMBLE 

it.  Once  they  begin  to  understand  these  two  factors 
they  will  also  understand  the  purpose  of  (free  lancers) 
speakers  representing  no  organization,  as  well  as  the 
purpose  of  professional  politicians  and  mercenary  in- 
tellectuals trying  to  distract  the  attention  of  the  minds 
of  the  people  from  the  main  points  in  question.  As 
a  matter  of  fact,  the  economic  condition  of  the  pro- 
fessional intellectuals  of  all  shades  depends  upon  the 
ability  to  confuse  and  at  the  same  time  leave  an  im- 
pression of  hope  on  the  minds  of  their  audience  that 
something  will  soon  be  done  to  eliminate  these  condi- 
tions. Millions  of  these  are  employed  daily,  each  one 
holding  several  sorts  of  measures  or  remedies  that 
have  no  other  purpose  but  to  confuse  and  to  divide  the 
people.  There  is  but  one  remedy  which  is  the  reduc- 
tion of  the  workday  to  enable  each  one,  man  and 
woman,  that  has  to  work  for  a  living  to  get  a  job.  All 
methods  have  been  tried  and  have  failed.  "Industrial 
Unionism",  that  is  the  united  action  of  the  working 
class,  is  all  that  is  left  to  secure  it. 


THE    FOUNDATION     FOR    THE 
NEW    PSYCHOLOGY 

The  purpose  of  this  pamphlet  is  to  enable  the  en- 
thusiasts of  "Industrial  Unionism"  to  conduct  the 
educational  campaign  for  ''Industrial  Unionism'*  on  a 
solid  foundation  and  in  a  more  or  less  unified  form. 

The  "Industrial  Workers  of  the  World"  is  by 
nature  an  economic  organization. 

It  follows  that  the  dissemination  of  economics,  or 
at  least  the  fundamentals  of  it,  must  be  the  chief  con- 
cern. We  are  often  praised  by  well-meaning  men  and 
women  for  our  devotion  to  "principle",  but  criticised 
for  lack  of  intelligence.  They  base  their  contentions 
on  the  ground  of  our  small  numbers ;  whether  they  are 
right  or  wrong  is  out  of  the  question. 

Indeed,  the  "class  conscious  worker"  can  wear 
himself  out  discussing  side  issues.  This,  in  a  very 
large  degree,  has  been  the  misfortune  of  the  average 
member  of  the  I.  W.  W.,  to  allow  himself  to  be 
drowned  with  questions  of  side  issues,  such  as  moral, 
religious,  legal  or  political  in  character,  and  thereby 
for  a  time  unconsciously  neglect  and  finally  leave  the 
main  issue  side  tracked. 

We,  the  "Industrial  Workers  of  the  World,"  have 
paid  dearly  for  our  lessons  and  therefore  we  know 
why  we  are  devoted  to  "principles''. 

Can  any  well  meaning  man  or  woman,  when  under- 
standing the  fundamentals  of  Industrial  Unionism,  be 
anything  else  but  an  I.  W.  W.  ? 

Indeed,  more  than  once,  have  I  been  called  "fan- 
atic" by  well  meaning  men  and  women  comrades  of 

5 


6  THE  FOUNDATION  FOR 

the  Socialist  Party  as  well  as  by  fellow  workers  of  my 
own  organization.  Chiefly,  because  the  position  I  take 
IS,  that  the  "Industrial  Workers  of  the  World''  is  the 
only  organization  as  far  as  the  "economic  interests"  of 
the  working  class  is  concerned. 

Am  I  a  "fanatic",  or  are  they  in  the  dark,  or  lacking 
in  understanding  of  the  fundamentals  (the  economics) 
of  the  "Social  Problem"? 

I  am  not  advancing  another  question  or  side  issue ; 
this  pamphlet  will  talk  for  itself. 

What  I  am  trying  to  impress  upon  the  minds  of  the 
working  class  in  general,  and  upon  the  enthusiasts  for 
"Industrial  Unionism"  in  particular,  is  the  supreme 
necessity  for  the  education  of  the  working  class  upon 
the  economics,  or  at  least  the  fundamentals  of  it,  which 
at  the  present  time  is  the  main  function  of  the  I.  W. 
W.  In  other  words  we  must  first  of  all  enable  the 
working  class  to  see  for  themselves  that  a  "wage 
worker"  is  a  "commodity"  and  is  subject  to  the  fluctua- 
tion of  market  prices,  just  like  all  other  commodities. 

With  this  necessary  knowledge  then,  and  then 
alone,  will  the  workers  be  enabled  to  build  the  indus- 
trial organization,  or  the  organization  for  the  "New 
Society"  within  the  shell  of  the  old,  the  rule  of  which 
shall  be,  to  compel  "property"  to  serve  "humanity" 
instead  of  the  rule  of  today,  to  compel  "humanity''  to 
serve  "property". 

The  "Industrial  Workers  of  the  World"  is  an  or- 
ganization of  the  "wage  working"  class,  an  organiza- 
tion in  contradistinction  to  all  existing  organizations. 

It  is  founded  upon  the  basic  principle  of  economic 
class  interests. 

The  preamble  (or  the  declaration  of  principle)  of 
the  Industrial  Workers  says : 


THE   NEW   PSYCHOLOGY  7 

"The  working  class  and  the  employing  class  have 
nothing  in  common." 

Why  have  they  nothing  in  common?  Because  of 
their  economic  class  conflicting  interests!  In  other 
words,  because  of  the  fact  that  the  working  class  is 
daily  engaged  in  a  struggle  with  the  capitalist  class  for 
the  material  condition  for  their  daily  existence. 

Again  says  the  preamble : 

"It  is  the  historic  mission  of  the  working  class  to 
do  away  with  capitalism.  The  army  of  production 
must  be  organized  not  only  for  the  every  day  struggle 
with  capitalism  but  also  to  carry  on  production  when 
capitalism  shall  have  been  overthrown." 

Thus,  we  find  the  economic  class  character  of  the 
workers  within  the  present  system  of  society  in  these 
few  words  of  the  preamble : 

"The  army  of  production  must  be  organized  not 
only  to  overthrow  capitalism,  but  must  also  be  organ- 
ized for  their  'everyday  struggle'  with  'capitalism'  for 
their  daily  existence." 

Thus,  the  platform  of  the  wage  workers  is : 

"The  class  struggle !" 

What  is  the  "class  struggle,"  and  why  is  there  a 
class  struggle?  These  are  the  principal  points  which 
this  pamphlet  aims  to  explain. 

If  we  shall  ever  have  a  sufficient  number  of  men 
and  women  with  which  to  build  up  the  organization  to 
accomplish  the  purpose  in  view,  the  working  class 
must  first  of  all  become  enlightened  upon  the  tenden- 
cies of  economic  forces ;  in  other  words :  first,  to  enable 
the  workers  to  see  the  fact  that  a  "wage  worker''  once 
is  a  "wage  worker''  all  the  time;  second,  to  enable 
them  to  see  that  the  "wage  worker"  is  a  commodity 
subject  to  the  fluctuation  of  "market  prices"  like  that 
of  all  other  "commodities";  third,  to  enable  them  to 


8  THE  FOUNDATION   FOR 

see  why  "commodities"  are  often  sold  at  a  price  below 
the  cost  of  production,  and  the  " wages''  or  the  price 
of  labor  is  oftentimes  below  the  cost  of  commodities 
of  the  most  inferior  quality  of  the  workman's  absolute 
daily  need. 

Why  is  a  "workman''  under  this  present  system 
(capitalism)  a  commodity? 

Because  he  has  to  sell  himself  daily  as  a  means  of 
livelihood,  and  because  he  does  not  receive  the  value 
of  his  "labor  product",  but  he  receives  oftentimes  less 
than  the  value  of  his  "labor  power". 

"Commodities"  of  different  kinds  carry  different 
prices  or  values. 

How  is  the  price  or  value  of  a  given  "commodity'* 
determined  ? 

Its  value  or  price  is  determined  by  the  quantity  of 
"laboring  time"  necessary  for  its  production. 

How  then  is  the  price  or  value  of  "time"  measured 
or  determined? 

This  is  the  riddle  every  man  and  women  must  learn 
to  understand. 

The  theory  of  "value" ! 

What  is  the  meaning  of  this  term  "value"  ? 

The  popular  concept  of  it  is  that  "value"  means 
the  equal  proportions  of  two  commodities  or  properties. 
Basing  this  theory  upon  the  popular  concept  I  shall 
ask  is  a  pound  of  copper  the  equivalent  of  a  pound 
of  gold?  Yes,  in  point  of  weight  but  not  in  point  of 
price  or  "value". 

What  then  is  the  meaning  of  this  term? 

"Value"  is  the  economic  expression  for  equal  pro- 
portions of  social  substances  contained  in  two  com- 
modities. 

For  instance  if  the  price  or  value  of  a  pound  of 
copper  say,  is  $1.00  and  the  price  of  a  pound  of  gold 


THE   NEW   PSYCHOLOGY  9 

is  $50.00,  or  fifty  pounds  of  copper  is  the  value  or  the 
equivalent  of  one  pound  of  gold,  how  then  are  their 
prices  or  values  determined  ?  There  must  be  some  other 
third  thing  which  must  be  common  to  the  copper  and 
gold,  or  common  to  all  ''commodities"  for  that  matter. 

What  then  is  that  third  thing  that  is  common  to  all 
commodities  ? 

"Laboring  power !" 

The  monetary  name  for  "labor"  is  "wages". 

What  the  working  man  sells  is  "labor  power'*  and 
what  he  receives  is  "wages". 

The  working  man's  daily  "wages''  is  not  the 
equivalent  or  the  value  resulting  from  his  daily 
"labor".  Not  so.  His  daily  "wages"  is  the  value  or 
the  equivalent  of  the  cost  for  the  necessities  consumed 
to  maintain  his  labor  power. 

The  workman's  daily  "wages"  or  the  value  of  his 
daily  necessities  is  quite  different  from  the  value  re- 
sulting from  his  daily  labor. 

The  same  as  the  food  a  horse  wants  and  the  time 
it  can  carry  its  horseman  are  two  distinct  things. 

However,  the  point  is,  that  the  term  "value"  is  the 
economic  expression  for  "equivalent"  or  the  equal 
proportions  of  social  substances  (labor)  contained  in  a 
given  number  of  commodities  as,  for  an  example, 
twenty  pounds  of  sugar,  price  $1.00 ;  three  pounds  of 
coffee,  price,  $1.00 ;  and  three  pounds  of  butter,  price, 
$1.00;  total,  $3.00,  the  value  or  equivalent  of  a  pair  of 
shoes  the  price  of  which  is  $3.00,  the  cost  of  which  is 
determined  by  the  quantity  of  the  laboring  time  neces- 
sary for  their  production. 

If,  for  instance,  the  production  of  a  pair  of  shoes 
would  require  a  large  quantity  of  laboring  time,  the 
cost  or  price  of  them  will  be  high ;  on  the  other  hand, 
if  the  production  of  a  pair  of  shoes  will  require  a  small 


10  THE  FOUNDATION   FOR 

quantity  of  laboring  time  the  cost  or  price  of  them  will 
be  low.    But  what  are  high  and  low  prices  ? 

We  find  commodities  of  the  most  inferior  quality 
that  are  comparatively  low  to  some  and  very  high  and 
even  beyond  the  reach  of  others.  What  then  is  high 
or  low  cost  ? 

We  can  determine  nothing  by  simply  fancying  a 
thermometer  of  high  and  low  degrees,  what  we  must 
know  is  the  division  point  between  heat  and  cold,  or 
the  boiling  and  freezing  points. 

Where  is  the  line  of  demarcation  of  high  and  low 
cost  of  living? 

But  the  means  of  livelihood,  "commodities",  are 
the  products  of  labor. 

Why  then  should  the  price  or  cost  of  any  given 
commodity  be  too  high  or  beyond  the  reach  of  the  pro- 
ducing class  (the  workers)  ? 

If,  for  instance,  the  production  of  a  pair  of  shoes 
would  require  four  days,  the  shoemaker  would  then 
fix  the  price  of  his  product  in  accordance  with  the 
prices  of  his  social  requirement,  the  cost  of  it  four 
days.  This  was  actually  the  case  with  the  producing 
class  as  long  as  they  were  the  masters  of  the  industrial 
situation. 

But  all  this  has  changed  with  the  changes  of  the  in- 
struments of  production  today.  In  spite  of  the  fact 
of  the  low  cost  of  production  the  prices  of  "com- 
modities" (the  means  to  life  and  comfort)  are  so  high, 
for  millions  they  are  beyond  their  reach. 

Certain  "commodities",  call  them  what  you  will, 
"luxuries' '  or  "necessities",  seventy-five  per  cent  of 
the  aggregate  are  never  enjoyed  by  the  producers,  (or 
the  working  class). 

Or  better  yet.  Why  is  it,  that  commodities  of  the 
most  inferior  quality  are  comparatively  low  to  some 


THE   NEW   PSYCHOLOGY  11 

and  high  or  beyond  the  reach  of  other  workmen? 
Does  it  not  show  something  radically  wrong?  What 
is  that?  Because  the  modern  social  order  is  a  con- 
tinuation of  former  systems  of  economics,  the  present 
economic  system  of  production  and  exchange  of 
products  is  in  conflict  with  the  modern  or  existing  so- 
cial order. 

You  may  as  well  ask  why  cannot  a  pound  of  copper 
exchange  for  a  pound  of  gold  on  equal  terms  ? 

Some  "question"  is  it  not?  But  for  the  same  rea- 
son these  two  commodities  cannot  exchange  on  equal 
terms,  because  of  the  different  quantities  of  laboring 
power  required  for  their  production.  The  same  prin- 
ciple by  which  the  value  or  price  of  commodities  are 
determined  is  applied  to  "wages",  or  the  price  for 
"labor  power". 

The  "commodity"  the  workman  sells  is  "labor 
power." 

There  is  a  peculiar  feature  about  the  commodity 
"labor  power''  which  distinguishes  it  from  all  other 
commodities,  because  of  their  extreme  difference  in 
form. 

Commodities  proper  exist  in  quantitative  or  physi- 
cal form,  but  laboring  power  exists  in  pure  qualitative 
form.  For  instance,  the  labor  of  a  diamond  setter  is 
different  from  that  of  a  baker,  the  laboring  power  of 
both  differs  from  that  of  a  porter  and  cabinet  maker, 
the  laboring  power  of  these  differs  from  that  of  a  tailor 
or  engineer  or  architect.  Therefore,  as  the  cost  of  pro- 
ducing laboring  powers  of  different  quality  differs,  so 
must  differ  the  values  or  prices  for  laboring  power 
employed  in  different  trades. 

Properly  speaking  there  exists  no  such  thing  as 
value  in  human  labor.  I  simply  point  out  the  fact  that 
the  price  or  value  of  "labor",  upon  the  basis  of  the 


12  THE  FOUNDATION   FOR 

wage  (or  capitalist)  system,  is  settled  by  the  cost  of 
its  production  like  all  other  commodities. 

For  the  fact  has  been  amply  shown  that  the  price 
or  value  of  the  commodity,  or  laboring  power,  is  the 
cost  of  their  production. 

If  the  respective  quantity  of  laboring  time  neces- 
sary for  the  production  of  the  respective  commodity 
would  remain  constant,  (or  always  the  same),  the  cost 
of  the  commodity  or  of  labor  would  also  remain  con- 
stant (or  always  the  same),  but  such  is  not  the  case. 

The  cost  of  the  commodity  changes,  with  the 
changes  of  the  productivity  in  the  instruments  of  pro- 
duction. 

For  an  example,  if  the  shoemaker  with  the  modern 
instruments  of  production  can  finish  one  hundred 
pairs  of  shoes  in  a  given  time,  while  the  shoemaker 
with  the  instruments  of  one  hundred  years  ago  could 
only  make  one  pair  in  the  same  time,  it  follows  then 
that  the  cost  of  shoes  ought  to  be  one  hundred  times 
cheaper  today  than  they  were  one  hundred  years  ago. 
But  capitalists  are  not  doing  business  this  way.  Be- 
cause Mr.  Jones  has  just  now  installed  the  latest  im- 
proved labor-saving  machinery  with  100%  higher 
productive  capacity  than  the  last  year's  machinery  of 
Mr.  Johnson,  is  no  indication  that  Mr.  Jones  will  sell 
his  products  100%  cheaper  than  does  Mr.  Johnson. 

Mr.  Jones  may  undersell  Mr.  Johnson,  perhaps 
with  a  5%  or  10%  profit  if  he  desires  the  bulk  of  Mr. 
Johnson's  trade. 

That  is  competition  and  that  is  the  way  prices  of 
commodities  are  settled.  The  cost  of  production  is 
settled  by  the  total  quantity  of  laboring  time  required 
for  its  production.  But  the  prices  of  products  are  set- 
tled on  the  field  of  competition  between  the  owners 
of  the  products. 


THE   NEW   PSYCHOLOGY  13 

Competition,  aided  by  the  constant  development  of 
labor-saving  machinery,  has  reduced  the  once  econom- 
ically independent  producing  class  to  the  status  of  a  de- 
pendent ''Wage  Slave".  Indeed  the  worst  form  of 
slavery.  As  a  matter  of  truth  the  slave  never  did  suffer 
for  the  want  of  food,  clothing  and  shelter  or  for  some 
kind  of  amusement. 

But  with  the  modern  slave  or  the  wage  worker  of 
today,  even  commodities  of  the  most  inferior  qualities 
are  beyond  the  reach  of  millions,  the  creators  of  all, 
for  the  absolute  daily  need. 

As  to  how  far  this  condition  of  things  may  expand 
no  one  can  tell.  This  depends  upon  the  working  class 
themselves.  If  they  learn  the  importance  of  organizing 
or  monopolizing  their  labor  power,  the  only  funda- 
mental factor  of  all  wealth,  they  will  get  whatever 
they  demand.  On  the  other  hand  we  can  say  that  this 
condition  of  things  will  continue  to  expand  in  ever 
larger  dimensions.  The  following  will  prove  the  state- 
ment: 

The  Los  Angeles  Times,  June  6,  1915,  commenting 
editorially  on  the  annual  meeting  of  the  National  As- 
sociation of  Manufacturers  in  New  York  on  May  8th, 
says  in  part : 

''The  committee  on  industrial  betterment  reported 
on  the  legislative  minimum  wage  and  said,  'it  must  tend 
strongly  to  become  a  maximum  wage,  because  by  its 
operation'  (That  is  by  the  operation  of  the  highly  de- 
veloped labor  saving  machinery)  'the  weaker  indus- 
tries will  be  destroyed  and  the  less  efficient  workers  be 
deprived  of  employment.'  In  consequense  of  that, 
'labor  will  be  reduced  toward  a  common  plane  of 
efficiency  and  wages  as  measured  in  their  power  to  pur- 
chase commodities  will  be  placed  at  a  disadvantage*." 


14  THE  FOUNDATION   FOR 

"  'A  minimum  wage  law',  said  the  committee',  has 
utterly  failed  wherever  it  has  been  tried  because  it  has 
endeavored  to  equalize  things/  (What  things  ?  Wages.) 
'that  are  incapable  of  being  equalized.'  They  say,  'You 
may  by  law  compel  an  employer  to  pay  incompetent 
John  Smith  as  much  wages  as  he  pays  to  efficient  Peter 
Jones,  but  you  cannot  compel  him  to  employ  John 
Smith'. 

'These  are  not  the  words  of  Labor  Haters ;  but  the 
words  of  sober  minded,  and  economically  clear  vision- 
ary statements  of  the  official  representatives  of  the  em- 
ploying class." 

Can  it  under  this  condition  of  things  be  any  longer 
denied  that  the  economic  interests  of  the  workers  are 
in  direct  contradistinction  to  those  of  the  employers? 

We  therefore  say,  Workers,  individually  on  the 
field  of  competition  for  the  sale  of  your  "Labor  Pow- 
er" you  are  lost. 

As  we  can  see  in  the  statement  of  the  above  edi- 
torial, 'Wages,  as  measured  by  their  purchasing  power 
of  commodities/'  (the  worker)  "will  be  placed  at  the 
disadvantage  because  of  the  operation  of  it."  That 
is,  by  the  industrial  operation  with  the  latest  improved 
labor  saving  machinery  which  does  not  depend  upon 
the  workman's  technical  or  mechanical  skill  in  in- 
dustrial production,  and  because  of  that  fact,  "all  forms 
of  laboring  power"  as  the  official  representatives  of 
the  employers  Association  says,  "will  be  reduced  to  a 
common  plane  of  efficiency."  That  is,  the  laboring 
power  of  man  will  be  reduced  to  just  the  physical 
element,  (strength),  or  unskilled  labor,  the  wages  of 
which  are  correspondent  with  the  prices  of  the  cost  of 
that  quantum  absolutely  necessary  for  his  momentary 
consumption. 


THE   NEW   PSYCHOLOGY  15 

As  to  the  defects  of  the  people  in  connection 
with  their  physical  and  mental  health — this  of 
course  can  cause  no  economic  depression  as  this  is 
only  a  mere  medical  problem.  However,  capitalism 
can  maintain  itself  with  a  short  lived  idiotic  as  well 
as  with  a  long  lived  idiotic  working  population. 

In  consequence  of  this  condition  as  the  result  of 
machine  mode  of  production,  which  has  already 
reduced  about  80%  of  the  technical  and  mechanical 
skill  and  is  gradually  reducing  all  forms  of  labor- 
ing power  to  a  common  level  of  efficiency  and  also 
to  a  common  plane  of  economic  conditions,  there- 
fore we,  the  I.  W.  W.  say : 

Workers  of  all  institutions  of  employment,  or- 
ganize your  labor  in  accordance  with  your  industry 
employed  in  a  federated  union  of  all  industries  or 
institutions  of  employment.  Thereby  you  have 
monopolized  your  labor  power  (the  only  funda- 
mental factor  of  all  wealth)  and  by  force  of  this 
monopoly  you  can  reduce  the  labor  day  to  a  point 
of  job  and  a  living  wage  security. 

We  also  say  to  the  workers  not  to  concern 
themselves  about  the  hypercritical  question  of  in- 
creased prices  of  commodities  or  the  means  to  live. 

The  fact  has  been  shown  that  the  cost  of  com- 
modities are  determined  by  the  quantity  of  laboring 
time,  or  by  th-e  wages  paid  out  for  the  cost  of  the 
producers'  consumption  during  the  production  of  it. 

The  prices  of  "commodities''  are  settled,  as  was 
shown,  "on  the  condition  of  competition"  between 
the  owners  of  them. 

"Profit"  we  say  is  just  that  difference  between 
the  cost  (or  wages  paid)  for  their  production  and 
prices  charged  to  consumer. 


16  THE  FOUNDATION  FOR 

However  we  need  not  concern  ourselves  with 
questions  of  prices,  let  the  conflicting  business  par- 
ties fight  it  out  between  themselves  on  the  field  of 
conipetition. 

No  doubt  some  opposition  will  be  met  with 
from  various  circles  towards  this  attitude,  based 
upon  the  grounds  of  the  economic  pressure  of  the 
middle  classes,  but  what  privilege  have  the  middle 
clases  to  feed  and  enjoy  themselves  on  the  misery 
of  the  working  class?  Moreover  their  verdict  has 
already  been  spoken  by  the  official  representatives 
of  the  employing  class,  the  above  mentioned  edi- 
torial quoting  the  ''industrial  betterment"  commit- 
tee of  the  employers  association  in  part,  "the 
weaker  industries  will  be  destroyed  because  of  the 
operation  of  it." 

That  is  by  the  industrial  operation  with  the  lat- 
est improved  labor  saving  machinery,  which  by  rea- 
son of  their  financial  weakness,  the  middle  classes 
are  unable  to  meet,  and  therefore  the  material  con- 
ditions for  their  existence  as  a  middle  class  stand 
destroyed. 

However,  middle  class  or  no  middle  class,  labor 
produces  all  wealth  and  is  entitled  to  it.  The  Los 
Angeles  Tribune,  June  12,  1915,  says: 

"According  to  the  latest  bulletin  of  the  depart- 
ment of  commerce  at  Washington  our  national 
wealth  is  officially  estimated  at  $187,739,000,000, 
which,  divided  by  the  population  figures,  makes 
the  aforesaid  $1,965  per  capita. 

"In  less  than  two-thirds  of  a  century — from  1850 
to  1912 — the  total  wealth  of  the  nation,  excluding 
exempt  real  estate,  increased  from  $7,136,000,000,  or 
$308  per  capita,  to  $175,426,000,000,  or  $1,836  per 
capita,  the  percentages  of  increase  being  2,358  for 


THE   NEW   PSYCHOLOGY  17 

the  total  and  496  for  the  per  capita  amounts.  In 
other  words,  the  wealth  of  the  nation  as  a  whole 
is  nearly  twenty-five  times  as  great  as  it  was  in 
1850,  while  that  of  the  individual  is  about  six  times 
as  great." 

In  spite  of  all  this  we  find  instead  of  an  increase 
in  the  general  welfare  a  decrease.  The  reason  for 
that  has  amply  been  proved.  Facing  this  actual 
condition,  is  it  then  necessary  to  advance  further 
argument  to  prove  the  justification  of  our  claim, 
which  we  hold  out  to  the  working  class? 

"Organize  or  monopolize  your  labor  power  (the 
only  fundamental  factor  of  wealth),  reduce  the 
labor  day  to  the  point  of  a  job  and  living  wage 
security."  Thus,  the  organization  of  the  working 
class  is  the  only  process,  not  only  to  secure  the 
means  for  daily  existence  while  capitalism  lasts, 
but  it  also  is  the  preparation  of  the  industrial  or- 
ganization to  carry  on  production  when  capitalism 
shall  have  been  overthrown  and  give  way  to  the 
new  order  of  things. 

''Industrial  democracy" !  the  rule  of  which  is,  to 
compel  property  to  serve  humanity  instead  of  com- 
pelling humanity  to  serve  property.  In  other 
words,  the  social  condition  based  upon  "economic 
equality,"  commonly  called  "Socialism". 

Thus,  the  theoretical  expression  for  practical 
industrial  unionism.  First,  the  education  of  the 
fundamental  "industrial  economics",  to  enable  the 
workers  to  see  the  absolute  necessity  and  the  im- 
portance of  a  labor  organization  based  upon 
economic  class  interest.  Secondly,  with  a  certain 
degree  of  this  knowledge  the  workers  are  then  en- 
abled to  build  the  organization  in  accord  with  the 
industry  employed  in  a  federated  union  of  all  in- 


18  THE  FOUNDATION   FOR 

dustries  or  institutions  of  employment  in  the  be- 
ginning, with  the  end  in  view  to  reduce  the  work 
day  to  a  point  of  job  and  living  wage  security. 
And  right  here,  because  of  the  economic  protection, 
this  "labor  union"  expands  both  physically  and 
mentally. 

The  success  of  the  union  does  not  depend  on 
their  immediate  gain,  but  on  the  expansion  of  their 
union,  as  the  union  grows  ever  larger  in  the  same 
proportion  as  the  membership  of  the  union  learns 
the  relations  of  the  workers  of  one  industry  to  those 
of  another,  and  will  finally  arrive  at  the  economic 
consciousness  of  the  industrial  relationship  in  con- 
nection with  society  as  a  whole. 

Organized,  and  economically  conscious  of  their 
social  function,  as  the  only  important  class  in  so- 
ciety as  producers,  the  workers  without  much  ado 
will  become  the  share  holders  of  their  labor  product 
by  simply  serving  notice  to  the  officials  of  all  in- 
stitutions of  employment  that  their  responsibility 
rests  upon  the  officials  of  the  union  organization 
chosen  from  the  membership  of  the  various  in- 
dustrial branches  or  departments  instead  of  the 
present  method;  the  responsibility  of  the  officials 
of  the  industrial  institutions  resting  upon  the  offi- 
cials of  the  capitalistic  share  holders. 

'Thus,  the  peaceful  transformation  of  the  old 
economic  life  under  the  new  form  is  established, 
aided  by  the  new  organization  within  the  shell  of 
the  old. 

An  editorial  in  the  Los  Angeles  Times,  July  20, 
1915,  under  the  caption,  'The  Folly  of  Socialism" 
says: 

"The  inherent  and  incurable  defect  of  socialism 
is  that  it  is  based  upon  an  assumption  of  equality 


THE   NEW   PSYCHOLOGY  19 

that  does  not  exist.  There  is  no  system  of  human 
laws  that  can  efface  the  difference  in  men.  Tt  pro- 
ceeds/ says  Amos  Fiske,  'on  the  theory  that  the 
work  of  each  is  equally  important  in  carrying  on 
industries  and  distributing  their  products,  and  that 
each  is,  therefore,  entitled  to  an  equal  share  in  the 
proceeds.'  The  result  of  socialism  would  inevitably 
be  that  the  existing  industrial  system  would  go  to 
wreck  unless  the  strong  and  capable  immediately 
united  to  rescue  it  and  keep  it  going.'' 

The  attitude  of  this  is  rather  in  favor  and  not  in 
opposition  to  the  socialist  theory.  It  only  points 
out  the  follly  of  the  political  or  socialist  party 
method  of  materializing  it. 

The  point  of  inequality  needs  no  mention,  as  this 
has  been  amply  proved,  and  that  is  just  what  we, 
the  I.  W.  W.,  are  aiming  to  change,  but,  says  the 
writer :  ''There  is  no  system  of  human  law  that  can 
efface  the  difference  in  man."  And  this  statement 
is  just  as  correct  as  the  statement  of  the  existing 
inequality.  If  there  is  anything  to  the  meaning  of 
"human  law"  it  means  the  right  to  life,  liberty  and 
the  pursuit  of  happiness,  but  the  condition  for  this 
cannot  be  devised  by  the  "human  system  of  law". 
This  is  derived  from,  the  productive  intelligence  of 
humanity.  Productive  or  industrial  intelligence  has 
already  to  a  very  large  degree  effaced  or  eliminated 
the  difference  in  man,  not  only  in  the  industrial 
sense  but  also  in  the  social  sense  because  of  eco- 
nomic conditions.  It  follows  that  the  law  of 
economics  has  the  power  to  efface  the  difference  in 
man.  The  editorial  writer  said,  "on  the  theory  of 
equality  the  result  of  socialism  would  inevitably  be 
that  the  existing  industrial  system  would  go  to 
wreck  unless  the  strong  and  capable  immediately 


20  THE  FOUNDATION   FOR 

united  to  resume  it  and  keep  it  going/'  Which 
when  written  or  spoken  in  every  day  English  would 
sound  as  follows: 

If  the  socialists  or  rather  the  Socialist  Party  ever 
attempt  to  transform  the  economic  structure  (in- 
struments of  production)  on  the  condition  of  eco- 
nomic equality  based  on  universal  industrial  lia- 
bility, by  means  of  legislative  methods  the  result 
would  be  rebellion  which  will  upset  the  whole  eco- 
nomic life  as  a  result  of  the  industrial  disturbance 
until  the  capitalists  or  the  property  owning  class 
come  together  and  effect  a  compromise  and  resume 
the  old  conditions  of  production  when  necessary  un- 
der a  new  form.  This  has  been  the  outcome  of  all 
past  rebellions  or  general  upheavals  mistakingly 
called  "Revolution". 

The  leading  politicians  of  the  Socialist  Party  as 
well  as  of  all  other  political  parties  know  that  a 
"revolution"  means  the  complete  change  of  the  fun- 
damentals upon  which  the  social  order  is  based. 
Capitalism  is  based  upon  private  property  rights 
and  depends  upon  wage  labor.  Under  these  circum- 
stances it  is  the  laboring  class  alone  that  can  effect 
the  change  or  the  transformation  of  the  economic 
structure  on  the  basis  of  economic  equality  or  on 
the  condition  of  universal  industrial  liability.  To 
accomplish  this,  man  must  know  what  he  wants, 
and  how  to  get  it.  Men  must  first  know  and  then 
organize  in  accordance  with  the  industry  employed 
into  a  federated  union  of  all  institutions  of  employ- 
ment ;  to  prevent  the  disruption  of  the  economic  life 
they  must  hold  the  industrial  institutions  of  produc- 
tion intact.  The  industrial  form  of  labor  organiza- 
tions is  the  only  means  to  a  peaceful  transformation 
of  the  existing  social  order  because  of  the  economic 


THE   NEW   PSYCHOLOGY  21 

force  or  stronghold  in  control  of  the  labor  organiza- 
tions. It  is  the  master  class  themselves  who  say, 
"No  system  of  human  law  can  efface  the  difference 
in  man."  That  is  why  we,  the  I.  W.  W.  (true  Socia- 
lists, not  emblem  worshippers)  say,  *'The  army  of 
production  must  be  organized  not  only  for  the  every 
day  struggle  with  capitalism  (for  the  daily  exis- 
tence) but  must  be  organized  to  carry  on  produc- 
tion when  capitalism  shall  be  over-thrown. 

This  is,  to  a  degree,  the  fundamentals  of  indus- 
trial unionism,  or  Socialism.  Right  here  it  will  be 
well  to  show  the  contrast  in  attitudes  of  mind  be- 
tween "Industrial  Socialists''  and  "Political  Socia- 
lists". 

I  shall  quote  statements  made  by  Mr.  Hillquit, 
the  intellectual  giant  and  political  backbone  of  the 
Socialist  Party,  in  an  interview  published  in  the 
Illustrated  Weekly  of  the  Los  Angeles  Times  for 
July  17,  1915,  covering  almost  two  pages  of  social 
and  political  eloquence.     Mr.  Hillquit  said  in  part: 

"As  a  matter  of  fact  Socialists  do  abhor  all 
struggles  between  man  and  man — military  struggle, 
industrial  struggle,  all  struggles  of  whatever  kind. 
The  ideal  of  Socialist  society  is  based  upon  co- 
operative effort. 

"It  is  not  to  be  denied,  but  is  emphatically  to  be 
affirmed,  that  these  are  the  ideals  of  Socialist 
thought. 

"But  while  affirming  this,  we  must  admit  that 
such  a  social  state  lies  well  beyond  the  present,  in 
the  future. 

"Socialists  of  today,  living  in  the  present  order, 
must  conform  to  it.  They  have  tried  to  change  it, 
and  are  changing  it,  but  not  yet  is  the  change  an 
accomplished  fact. 


22  THE  FOUNDATION   FOR 

"An  individual,  whatever  his  ideals,  must  sub- 
mit to  the  conditions  of  that  environment  from 
which  he  cannot  escape,  although  the  worthy  man, 
whose  ideals  are  better  than  those  of  his  environ- 
ment, will  endeavor  to  change  what  should  be 
changed  in  his  surroundings. 

"But  the  worker  must  submit  to  the  employer, 
the  citizen  to  the  existing  government,  for  the  time 
being,  even  though  both  be  uniformed  and  un- 
worthy, or  mistaken. 

"Thousands  of  American  Socialists,  annually 
take  part  in  strikes,  for  example,  although  strikes 
are  as  far  as  warfare  from  the  Socialist  ideal.  In- 
deed, they  literally  are  warfare,  as  are  all  class  con- 
tests in  one  sense  or  another;  but  the  Socialists 
must  participate  in  them  until  the  better  order  fully 
comes. 

"All  that  the  war  has  proven,  with  regard  to 
Socialism,  is  that  the  national  organization  is  a  dis- 
tinct unit  which  may  come  into  conflict  with  other 
similar  units. 

"And,  just  as  the  individual  is  forced  to  fight 
individual,  social  and  economic  battles,  a  class  or  a 
nation  is  bound  to  fight,  sometimes,  whatever  the 
social  conceptions  of  its  individuals  may  be.  Are 
not  individuals  within  a  nation  sometimes  obliged, 
by  economic  pressure,  to  fight,  not  only  as  individ- 
uals, but  in  groups? 

"In  other  words  the  war  really  has  produced 
nothing  new  in  Socialist  thought.'' 

This  is  not  the  position  of  the  Political  Socialist 
alone,  such  can  be  seen  to  be  the  general  attitude 
of  all  professional  intellectuals  the  world  over,  an 
instance  in  point  will  prove  it. 

The  Los  Angeles  Times,  July  27,  1915,  says: 


THE   NEW   PSYCHOLOGY  23 

"The  Yorozu  Choho  of  Tokio,  commenting  on 
the  probable  results  of  the  European  war,  affirms 
that  the  conflict  has  exposed  the  weakness  of  Chris- 
tian civilization  and  that  the  claim  of  superiority  of 
the  white  over  the  colored  races  has  no  strong 
ground  for  support.  It  says  that  Christian  pride 
and  prejudice  are  destined  to  lose  their  influence  and 
that  Christ,  Confucius  and  Mohammed  will  receive 
the  same  degree  of  recognition  everywhere.  It 
closes  by  saying  that  this  is  a  tendency  which  de- 
serves to  be  considered  a  step  forward  in  realizing 
the  principle  of  universal  brotherhood/' 

Similar  statements  can  be  quoted  from  all  the 
various  ideologists,  social,  religious,  and  political 
cults.  However  they  may  differ  in  form  of  their 
phraseology,  they  are  the  same  in  substance. 

Mr.  Hillquit  says :  *'The  war  has  produced  noth- 
ing new  in  Socialist  thought."  We  the  Industrial 
Socialists  (the  non-political  and  non-emblem  wor- 
shippers) deny  the  truth  of  it.  Mr.  Hillquit  speaks 
for  political  (emblem  worshipper)  Socialists.  His 
statement  amounts  to  this,  that  the  war  has  pro- 
duced nothing  new  in  the  realm  of  political  thought. 
Socialists  proper  do  not  stand  in  the  political  but  in 
the  industrial  or  economic  arena.  Socialism  aims 
at  the  new  (or  economic)  freedom  and  the  economic 
organization  is  the  agency  for  it,  but  political  party ! 
Even  the  Los  Angeles  Times  says : 

"It  is  all  right  to  talk  about  the  'New  Freedom*, 
but  politics  is  yet  a  game  of  addition,  division  and 
silence.    Only  different  hands  at  it,  that's  all." 

Mr.  Hillquit  says:"All  that  the  war  has  proved 
is  that  the  national  organization  is  a  distinct  unit 
which  may  come  in  conflict  with  other  similar 
units.'*  Socialism  denies  the  existence  of  "distinct  na- 


24  THE  FOUNDATION   FOR 

tional  units."  What  Mr.  Hillquit  is  fond  of  calling 
"distinct  national  units/'  really  means  distinct  capitalist 
groups,  which  are  by  force  of  economic  circum- 
stances bound  to  fight,  sometimes  individually  be- 
tween themselves  or  against  their  employers,  but  at 
all  times  do  we  find  these  capitalist  groups,  (what 
Mr.  Hillquit  calls  National  distinct  units"),  arrayed 
against  other  capitalist  groups  (or  similar  units) 
which  is  not  only  against  the  best  interests  of  the 
working  class  everywhere,  but  is  against  the  best 
interests  of  the  human  family  as  a  whole.  And  the 
cause  of  these  conflicts  or  war  is  not  because  of  Na- 
tional animosities,  but  because  of  conflicting  eco- 
nomic interests  between  the  various  capitalist 
groups  as  the  result  of  the  competitive  system 
which  is  the  outgrowth  of  the  capitalist  mode  of 
production. 

The  Los  Angeles  Times  for  May  16,  1915,  says: 
'T  take  it  that  every  sane  person  who  reads  the 
Times  realizes  that  nations  do  not  go  to  war  be- 
cause they  hate  each  other.  They  go  to  war  be- 
cause their  commercial  interests  come  in  conflict. 
The  underlying  cause  of  every  modern  war  is  com- 
mercial competition.  After  this  war,  there  is  every 
prospect,  no  matter  which  way  it  comes  out,  of  in- 
creased tensity  of  commercial  competition  owing  to 
the  attempt  that  will  be  made  by  the  United  States 
to  capture  the  trade  of  the  world.  Altogether  apart 
from  the  bitterness  that  will  be  felt  toward  the 
United  States  as  a  result  of  certain  events  of  this 
war,  we  will  be  looked  upon  as  the  most  dangerous 
commercial  rival  of  whichever  nation  wins  this 
struggle.  At  the  close  of  this  war,  the  position  of  the 
United  States  will  be  one  of  constant  danger  and 
peril." 


THE   NEW   PSYCHOLOGY  26 

This  much  for  Mr.  Hillquit's  "National  or  Dis- 
tinct Units"  that  may  sometimes  be  bound  to  fight 
similar  "units".  "The  workman",  he  says,  "must 
submit  to  the  employer  and  the  citizen  to  the  exist- 
ing government,  even  though  both  be  uninformed 
and  unworthy  or  mistaken." 

Can  any  politician  demand  any  more?  Or  is  it 
not,  practically  speaking,  all  that  the  capitalists  de- 
mand? 

Then  in  what  regard  does  the  Socialist  politician 
differ  from  the  rest  of  them  ? 

Every  true  "Socialist"  as  well  as  every  student 
of  economics  knows  that  labor  is  a  commodity  and 
is  constantly  decreasing  in  price  or  value  as  the  re- 
sult of  the  evolution  of  labor  saving  machinery.  In- 
deed, the  machine  mode  of  production  has  assumed 
such  dimensions  that  millions  of  men  and  women 
can  live  only  so  long  as  they  can  sell  their  labor  and 
can  sell  their  labor  only  as  long  as  their  labor  will 
produce  more  profit  or  capital.  Commodities  are 
easily  held  in  check  or  in  store  but  it  is  a  different 
proposition  with  humanity. 

Every  half  way  intelligent  man  knows  that 
changes  have  taken  place  within  the  system  of  pro- 
duction and  exchange,  with  which  the  social  order, 
which  is  a  continuation  of  earlier  days  of  economics, 
(mode  of  production)  is  no  longer  in  keeping;  from 
this,  it  follows  that  the  untold  misery  of  the  work- 
ing class  which  we  are  seeking  to  get  rid  of  must  be 
present  within  the  system  of  production  itself.  To- 
day, the  productivity  of  labor  is  almost  a  thousand 
times  larger  than  it  was  a  hundred  years  ago,  but 
the  workday  at  the  present  time  is  almost  as  long 
as  it  was  a  hundred  years  ago.  And  because  of  the 
immense  productivity  and  the  long  workday,  mil- 


g6  THE  FOUNDATION  FOR 

lions  of  men  and  women  are  forced  to  starvation. 

Workmen  want  the  reduction  of  the  work  day  in 
accordance  with  the  needed  supply  of  jobs  as  a 
means  to  life. 

Capitalists  say  a  reduction  of  the  workday  will 
reduce  profit,  and  is  therefore  against  the  law. 

But  what  ''human  system  of  law"  has  a  right  to 
demand  of  a  portion  gi  humanity  that  they  submit 
to  starvation?  But  Mr.  Hillquit,  the  so-called  Socia- 
list Politician,  says :  "The  workman  must  submit  to 
the  employer,  and  the  citizen  to  the  existing  social 
order."   (Government.) 

I  cannot  prevent  Mr.  Hillquit  from  calling  him- 
self a  Socialist,  but  I  deny  the  fact  that  he  is  a 
Socialist. 

Socialists  deny  the  right  of  one  class  to  demand 
the  submission  to  starvation  of  another  class.  We, 
the  class  conscious  workers,  therefore  put  the  so- 
called  Socialist  Politician  on  the  same  low  level  with 
the  rest  of  the  Professional  Politicians  and  mercen- 
ary intellectuals. 

If  further  proof  is  required  to  justify  the  logic 
of  this  contention,  I  shall  let  the  greatest  of  all 
Socialists  do  the  talking. 

Karl  Marx  says  in  ''Value,  Price  and  Profit", 
page  124: 

"These  few  hints  will  suffice  to  show  that  the 
very  development  of  modern  industry  must  pro- 
gressively turn  the  scale  in  favor  of  the  capitalist 
against  the  working  man,  and  that  consequently  the 
general  tendency  of  capitalistic  production  is  not  to 
raise,  but  to  sink  the  average  standard  of  wages,  or 
to  push  the  value  of  labor  more  or  less  to  its  mini- 
mum limit.  Such  being  the  tendency  of  things  in 
this  system,  is  this  saying  that  the  working  class 


THE   NEW   PSYCHOLOGY  27 

ought  to  renounce  their  resistance  against  the  en- 
croachments of  capital,  and  abandon  their  attempts 
at  making  the  best  of  the  occasional  chances  for 
their  temporary  improvement?  If  they  did,  they 
would  be  degraded  to  one  level  mass  of  broken 
wretches  past  salvation.  I  think  I  have  shown  that 
their  struggles  for  the  standard  of  wages  are  inci- 
dents inseparable  from  the  whole  wages  system, 
that  in  99  cases  out  of  100  their  efforts  at  raising 
wages  are  only  efforts  at  maintaining  the  given 
value  of  labor,  and  that  the  necessity  of  debating 
their  price  with  the  capitalist  is  inherent  to  their 
condition  of  having  to  sell  themselves  as  commodi- 
ties. By  cowardly  giving  way  in  their  every  day 
conflict  with  capital,  they  would  certainly  disqualify 
themselves  for  the  initiating  of  any  large  movement. 
"At  the  same  time,  and  quite  apart  from  the  gen- 
eral servitude  involved  in  the  wages  system,  the 
working  class  ought  not  to  exaggerate  to  them- 
selves the  ultimate  working  of  these  every-day 
struggles.  They  ought  not  to  forget  that  they  are 
fighting  with  effects,  but  not  with  the  causes  of 
those  effects ;  that  they  are  retarding  the  downward 
movement,  but  not  changing  its  direction ;  that  they 
are  applying  palliatives,  not  curing  the  malady. 
They  ought,  therefore,  not  to  be  exclusively  ab- 
sorbed in  these  unavoidable  guerilla  fights  inces- 
santly springing  up  from  the  ever-ceasing  enroach- 
ments  of  capital  or  changes  of  the  market.  They 
ought  to  understand  that,  with  all  the  miseries  it 
imposes  upon  them,  the  present  system  simultan- 
eously engenders  the  material  conditions  and  the 
social  forms  necessary  for  an  economical  recon- 
struction of  society.  Instead  of  the  conservative 
motto,  'A  fair  day's  wages  for  a  fair  day's  work!' 


28  THE  FOUNDATION   FOR 

they  ought  to  inscribe  on  their  banner  the  revolu- 
tionary watchword,  'Abolition  of  the  wages  sys- 
tem !" 

This  is  Socialism  or  the  Socialist  method,  with 
which  the  Economic  interests  of  the  working  class 
are  connected  to  preserve  their  interests  while  capital- 
ism lasts.  Anything  less  than  this  is  political  bunk  and 
is  equal  to  treachery  to  Socialism  or  to  the  principl.e 
of  Universal  Brotherhood. 

Socialism  must  and  will  come  peacefully. 

Capitalism  must  give  way  to  SociaHsm  in  the  same 
manner  as  did  the  individual  producer  give  way  to  cor- 
porations and  corporations  to  trusts  and  trusts  to 
monopoly. 

Socialism  is  the  largest  industrial  economic  organi- 
zation. Everybody  who  works  is  a  member  and  an 
equal  shareholder  of  the  total  wealth  produced  by  the 
social  or  economic  organization. 

Socialists  are  not  building  new  political  organiza- 
tions, but  are  pointing  out  to  the  working  class  the 
reasons  for  their  miseries  as  well  as  the  reason  for  their 
inability  to  improve  their  economic  conditions. 

Socialists  urge  the  working  class  to  organize  in  the 
same  manner  as  the  capitalists  are  organized — that  is, 
everybody  in  the  union  according  to  industry  employed 
in  a  Federated  Union  of  all  industries  or  institutions 
of  employment  and  altogether  at  a  given  time  reduce 
the  workday  in  accordance  to  the  needed  supply  of 
jobs.  The  workers  will  then  be  able  to  raise  wages  or 
the  value  of  their  labor. 

The  employers  are  absolutely  right  in  their  claim 
that  "a  reduction  of  the  workday  and  an  increase  in 
wages  will  reduce  profit".  It  is  just  this  profit  system 
that  enables  the  richest  of  the  rich  to  grow  constantly 
richer  while  the  less  rich  and  the  poor  constantly  grow 


THE   NEW;I^•StCHOrQGY^:^v.      ^9 

poorer  and  finally  are  reduced  to  starvation.  Thus, 
we  see  as  was  pointed  out  in  the  former  pages  that  the 
condition  for  capitalism  is  wage  labor  and  wage  labor 
rests  exclusively  upon  the  competition  of  the  workers 
between  themselves. 

Therefore  we,  the  Industrial  Socialists,  say  to  the 
working  class:  "Organize  your  labor,  the  commodity 
of  all  commodities,  and  stop  the  competition  on  the 
labor  market  by  means  of  the  reduction  of  the  work- 
day to  enable  everybody  the  opportunity  for  a  job  or 
the  means  to  life  and  from  that  minute  you  start  on 
the  road  to  Socialism.''  As  a  reduction  of  the  work- 
day and  an  increase  in  wages  means  less  profit  or  no 
profit,  industries  will  not  go  bankrupt,  only  capitalist 
shareholders  must  go  broke. 

Thus  we  see  that  Socialism  is  not  the  product  of 
political  movements,  but  is  the  product  of  the  process 
of  economic  evolution.  As  was  shown,  the  smaller 
corporations  must  by  force  of  economics  give  over  to 
the  larger  corporations. 

Industries  remain  in  their  existing  form  of  organ- 
ized production  and  distribution.  Only  the  responsi- 
bility of  the  officials  or  administrators  of  these  institu- 
tions resting  instead  upon  the  officials  of  the  capitalist 
share  holders  will  then  rest  with  the  officials  chosen 
by  the  workers  or  members  of  the  various  departments 
of  production  and  distribution  of  the  social  economic 
organization. 

The  production  of  all  commodities  begins  at  the 
mine,  farm  and  forest  with  the  getting  of  the  raw 
material,  and  is  finished  when  delivered  to  the  con- 
sumer. The  value  of  commodities  is  determined  or 
measured  on  the  basis  of  the  social  or  total  time  re- 
quired for  their  production.    In  other  words  the  value 


30  THE /FOUNDATION  FOR 

of  one  hour's  labor  of  one  man  is  the  equal  of  the 
hour's  labor  of  another. 

In  conclusion  I  desire  to  say  that  what  was  said 
was  not  said  for  future  generations.  I  have  simply 
aimed  to  point  out  the  reason  for  the  everlasting  con- 
flicts within  the  present  social  order  and  tried  to  show 
the  means  and  method  to  curb  the  powers  of  capital- 
ism. The  industrial  form  of  organization  is  the  start- 
ing point  to  enable  the  working  class  to  secure  the 
means  to  life  while  capitalism  lasts.  At  this  point  of 
the  game,  capitalism  is  at  an  end.  The  workers,  or  the 
social  organization  of  the  workers,  takes  control  of  the 
system  of  production,  and  that  is  the  starting  point  of 
Socialism — the  order  of  which  is  the  free  access  to  the 
means  of  life  for  all. 

We  shall  then  have  the  material  conditions  for  the 
"Universal  Brotherhood".  The  human  family  will  not 
only  be  safe  from  all  forms  of  misery,  but  will  be  safe 
from  the  clutches  of  the  War  Lords,  the  so-called 
protectors  of  Society. 


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